AASL Standards in Action: "Include" with Mrs. C

    This entry is the first in a series of four.  This series reflects on interviews I held with various Teacher Librarians in Southern California.  We spoke about the  National School Library Standards for School Librarians.  Each entry will discuss how a single librarian implements a particular Shared Foundation in their program.  Since the interviews were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss both how their program typically addresses the standards and how that has changed during the pandemic. 

Mrs. C is a high school librarian.  One of the main goals of her library program is to create a safe, inclusive environment for learning.  Naturally, we discussed Shared Foundation II: Include.  The Key Commitment of this Foundation is to understand and commit to diverse perspectives.  

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Mrs. C said that materials selection is one of the key ways she ensures inclusiveness and diverse thought. When students have a project, she guides students through the thoughtful choice of sources, giving them tools to make the final selection themselves. She creates lessons that encourage students to evaluate sources, so they can implement critical thinking when conducting independent research (A.2, B.2). Her district has a large digital library which includes databases, encyclopedias, subscription sites, and a huge curated list of trustworthy educational websites.  Mrs. C encourages her students to use this resource for research because she knows it will provide diverse perspectives.  She also creates her own opportunities for learners to explore diverse perspectives through themed displays (D.2).  She often uses months of recognition to highlight diverse books in her collection; for example, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women's History Month, Black History Month, or LGBT+ History Month. 

For Mrs. C, collaboration is the core of standards implementation.  When creating a learning experience, she will collaborate with a teacher to ensure that the assignment is inclusive.  Because of this she states that her greatest challenge to implementing the Include competency, is that teachers do not want to collaborate during the pandemic.  With all the stress and effort it takes to manage virtual school and a pandemic, collaborating with the school librarian seems like even more effort for teachers to put in when they are already exhausted.

Pandemic struggles aside, it is clear that Mrs. C has a clear commitment to diversity and inclusion in her high school's library.  She creates an inclusive environment and provides diverse resources.  As it stands, much of the diversity and inclusiveness comes from Mrs. C, but the standards also highlight giving students the opportunity to express and engage with each others diverse perspectives.  Since she is already comfortable creating an inclusive environment, if she wanted to implement the competencies more thoroughly, Mrs. C could focus next on creating ways for students to express, share, and discuss their own
diverse views.